Lucas Heights nervous about Google gander

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Australia's nuclear regulator has called on Google to censor
high-quality satellite imagery of the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor
which is freely available on its website.

Google Earth, a new software program owned by the search engine
giant, allows users to zoom across the planet at a height of about
300 metres.

The technology offers a bird's eye view of the entire Lucas
Heights facility, including the soon-to-be-decommissioned HIFAR
reactor and the early stages of construction of its replacement,
the OPAL reactor.

Such is the quality of the satellite imagery that cars and the
clearly defined perimeter can be seen.

The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation wants
the quality of imagery downgraded or completely obscured.

"We would probably prefer [Google] not to show images as
intimately as they currently do and we'll certainly be liaising
with them to see whether we can reduce that level of intimacy,"
ANSTO spokesman, Craig Pearce, said.

In the United States, Google Earth blocks out imagery of
potential terrorist targets such as the White House.

But imagery of sensitive Australian sites, including Parliament
House in Canberra and the Lucas Heights reactor in Sydney, remain
accessible.

Google Australia said any decision to censor its maps would be
made at its US-based headquarters which would not be open until
late tonight (AEST).

The images of the Lucas Heights facility are at least 18 months
old and the same information can be acquired through alternative
commercial and public databases, a Google Australia spokesman
said.

Photographs could also be taken by anyone flying in a
plane or helicopter above the site, he said.

However, under current law aircraft are not permitted to
fly any lower than 610 metres above the facility.

Mr Pearce said ANSTO had a number of security measures to
"minimise any negative impact that people might want to impose upon
the facilities".

But to maintain maximum security, ANSTO's "visual footprint"
needed to be minimised, he said.

"I think the White House sets a fairly good model of what should
happen but we are happy to discuss with Google the options
available and take it from there," he said.

Australian security agencies have factored the Google Earth
website into their assessments of threat and found it poses no
risk, the Attorney-General's Department said.

"If the Government were to receive advice from its security
agencies that there were concerns with the availability of this
sort of material then it would be appropriate to take action,"
spokeswoman Charlie McKillop said.

But at this stage it had received no such advice, Ms McKillop
said.

Nor had there been any direct communication about Google Earth
between the Government and ANSTO, she said.

Similar images had been publicly available for some time through
different channels, she said.

"In that context the Google Earth website does not add anything
to the existing publicly available data."